New Programs

New at BFDRC:

Juvenile Victim-Offender Meetings. This program brings juvenile offenders and their victims into the same room, face to face. Guided by a highly-trained facilitator, victim and offender are able to talk with each other, which is the first step in helping them understand what has happened. For young offenders, this means acknowledging what they have done, taking responsibility for it, and becoming will participants in making things right again. For victims, this process allows them to express the results of the crime on them directly to the person responsible, and to ask "why." It then fosters a dialogue between them that helps the offender truly understand the results of what he or she has done, and to change for the better. It helps victims process the emotions that came in response to the crime and see that the offender is no longer a threat. The documented results are a lowered re-offense rate, more positive outlooks on life and a sense of hope for the future for offenders, and a greater sense of safety and security for the victim.

This program is in partnership with the Juvenile Courts of Benton and Franklin counties.

Another new program in partnership with the juveniles courts is a Parent-Teen Communication Workshop specifically designed to intervene in conflicts that are so severe that the juvenile is not in court. The parents and teens are apart for the first two hours as they work with specially trained communications coaches. They are then brought together and assisted in learning new communications methods that build the relationship.

Parent - Teen Mediation. This offering uses specially trained volunteers to mediate conflicts between parents and their teens. Designed to reopen closed communication lines and create new lines where none existed, this powerful process can help parents and their teen break their patterns of disagreement, arguing, and frustration and replace them with new skills that foster better communication, understanding, and closeness.

Parent - Teen Communication Workshops. This is a 2-hour workshop specifically designed for parents to help them better understand and improve communication with their teens.

For more information, please call 509.783.3325.

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